Turkish diplomat shot dead in Iraq

A restaurant where Turkish diplomats were killed is seen in Erbil, Iraq July 17, 2019.

(Reuters/Azad Lashkari)

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - At least three people including a Turkish diplomat were killed in a shooting on Wednesday in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Erbil, Kurdish security officials and Turkey's foreign ministry said.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire at a restaurant where Turkish diplomats were dinning, the two Kurdish security officials said, a relatively rare attack in the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

The Kurdish officials and Iraqi state television said all three killed were Turkish diplomats and that the Turkish deputy consul to Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region was among them.

Turkey's foreign ministry said one Turkish consulate employee was killed in the attack.

Kurdish security forces sealed off the area and were searching for the attackers, the Kurdish security sources said.

One witness said that one attacker entered the restaurant and started shooting before he fled in a car that was waiting for him outside.